Greg Repetti, president of MultiCare Valley Hospital and MultiCare Deaconess Hospital, will retire Friday, Oct. 25, from a career in health care that spans over four decades. 

Repetti, 66, moved to the Spokane area in 2010 to step into the role of chief operating officer for Spokane-based Deaconess Hospital. He stayed in that position for three years, then led Rockwood Clinic as COO for one year before becoming CEO of Valley Hospital & Medical Center for three years. When Valley Hospital was acquired by Tacoma, Washington-based MultiCare Health System in 2017 and changed its name to MultiCare Valley Hospital, Repetti became the hospital’s president. Since 2020, Repetti has served as president of both Deaconess Hospital, in Spokane, and Valley Hospital. 

Repetti grew up in Akron, Ohio, and attended Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, where he played for the school’s football team. After graduating with a degree in biology, he pursued a graduate degree in health administration from Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio. 

The Journal met with Repetti recently to talk about his career in health care, the COVID-19 pandemic, and his advice for the next person who will take his place.

What inspired you at a young age to pursue a career in hospital administration? 

I thought I wanted to go to medical school but decided against it. Over Christmas break, during my junior year at Yale, I was debating between getting a master’s degree in marine biology or health care. A close friend of our family was a hospital administrator at Duke University Hospital, in North Carolina, who encouraged me to look into hospital administration. He then became the president of my hometown's children's hospital, and I decided to get a master’s in hospital administration. I did a fellowship residency with him and then a fellowship in another hospital in my hometown.

In retrospect, it was the best decision I could have made. I wouldn't have been happy even as a scientist my whole life. I’m too much of a people person. 

What is it about the administrative side of health care that appealed to you? 

I get to influence health care for a community. Our teams get to influence people day-to-day at the bedside. My No. 1 job is to support the people who give of themselves every day to support our community at some of their worst moments in life. I really felt that I could apply my skills and traits and all the gifts God’s given me to make our community a better place. 

In Spokane, I’m proud to have been a small part of the people who helped lead and push for the creation of WSU's Elson Floyd medical school.  We’re starting now to see the fruits of that labor, with some young people coming out of school and coming out of residency and choosing to stay in the area, and that’s exciting. I was a small game player, but to be a part of it, to be in town when it was happening, is really important and really fulfilling.

Any time a community can do something at that level—and it was an uphill fight to make it happen—just tells you how much this community can do and will continue to do as we move forward.

What brought the decision to retire now? 

It just seemed right for me. I’ve been involved in health care for 42 years, and that’s a long time to be doing anything. I think it’s time for some younger blood to come take over, guide, and lead.

In health care, the COVID years took a lot out of people, myself included. That first year, I didn’t take a day off. I was in the hospital maybe 70% of the weekends. I did a lot of interviews during that time, out on the lawn, talking about the incredible people who work in our hospitals. I’m really proud to have led them. I was proud before COVID, and then I watched what people did during the pandemic. It was a scary time; people were dying. We had no idea what was happening, and I watched people come to work, put on their masks and shields, and take care of people. I have such regard and appreciation for the doctors, nurses, techs, housekeepers, and people who give themselves.

It is just time for the organization to bring someone new who could come in and pick up the reins. My hospitals are five-star rated, and it doesn’t get better than that. So let’s get somebody with some new thinking and new energy, and I’ll support them from the sidelines.

What are some memories that stand out in your mind? 

If I was a good writer, I’d write a book. I’ve received phone calls in the middle of the night saying, you got to get in your car and get to the hospital, it’s on fire. That’s when I worked in Philadelphia.

I’ve had eerie moments too. The eeriest moment came during the pandemic at the Valley Hospital after we had canceled surgeries. I walked out to the parking lot and there was not one car in the lot in front of Valley Hospital. It was May of that first COVID year, and I got to the hospital at 6 a.m., and I was just floored because that never happens.

The thing I’ll miss the most is the people. People always used to ask me, what do you do when you’re down, because you’re a pretty positive guy? For the most part, when things aren’t going well, I do one of two things: Shut the door and don’t let anybody see me. But more often than not, I would open the door and I’d go around the floors and watch what our teammates were doing to make the lives of the people we serve better. And it always got me out of my funk. It was always a way to remind me why we do what we do.

Is there another career path you wish you pursued, or can imagine yourself in? 

The one thing I would have loved to have done—but I don’t think it would be a career—is to have been a high school teacher. I’m a huge history buff. I would have loved to have taught a history-type class and then to have been able to coach sports. Football would have been fun.

One of the joys of my life is both my kids went to Gonzaga Prep. When my son was a senior, he played in the state championship football team in 2015. I had the pleasure of it all. One of my sidelines is photography. Coach (Dave) McKenna allowed me to be on the sidelines, and I was the unofficial team photographer for three years. All those kids have albums of photographs that I took. As my kids went through school I thought: Boy I would have loved to have taught.

What advice do you have for the next person who will take your seat? I want the legacy of this hospital system to continue to be seen as a place of refuge, a place where people can come and get help, a place where people know we are going to give them the best quality service. We’re always going to strive for excellence. I absolutely want to be the best, not because I want to be better than Sacred Heart but because I want to be the best.

I’m really proud of where we have taken Deaconess Hospital, and I want people to take and build on it and make it even better. Don’t settle for mediocracy or rest on your laurels; get better, always get better.